Rosehaven on the Road

We squished, stacked, stashed and dashed down the road last weekend to two separate yarn/craft sales in Toronto. We pillaged the shelves of our little shop and took Rosehaven on the road; Diane and Amy headed to Knitter’s Folic while Lesley and I camped at CreativFestival. Though it was exhausting and the learning curve was steep, I think we arrived home to the County inspired and enlightened by the experience.

At Creativ, I had the pleasure of teaching two knitting demonstrations, one about Judy Becker’s Magic Cast-on and the other on the joys of i-cord. It was great to meet such fearless and inquisitive participants, some of whom visited in the Rosehaven booth post-lecture. Several people asked about follow-up instructions for Judy’s Magic Cast-on and I’ve decided to post them here.

Back in 2006, Judy wrote a wonderful tutorial for the online knitting magazine, Knitty.com. The photos that follow are from that tutorial (which is worth a look if you find yourself confused). The following instructions assume you’re using a circular needle; this cast-on can be accomplished using double-points, but I don’t recommend it.

1) Hold your needle in the right hand with the tips together.

2) Leaving a tail (at least 18″, or long enough for the desired number of stitches), loop the tail over the top of the upper needle. Hold the yarn in place with the index finger of your right hand so it doesn’t slip off.

3) Position the yarn in your left hand as you would for a long-tail cast on. Your index finger will be loading stitches onto the lower needle, your thumb will be loading stitches onto the upper needle.

4) With your index finger, carry the yarn under the lower needle and between the needles. With your thumb, carry the yarn between the needles and over the top of the upper needle.

5) Continue in this manner (under-the-lower-and-between, between-and-over-the-top) until you’ve cast on the desired number of stitches.

Huzzah! Judy’s Magic Cast-On! That’s all there is to it! You’re now ready to proceed with your project, whether it’s the toe of a toe-up sock or the beginning of our Bird’s Nest Bag.